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Holy Roman Empire
Structure and Institutions of the Holy Roman Empire The German Kingdom The Imperial Electors The antecedents of the College of Electors can be found in the ancient Teutonic tribes of Germany. Many smaller tribes would confederate together and the kings of each would elect one of their number to lead them. While in France and other realms the succession of the kingship had become hereditary, the Kingdom of Germany remained elective. Over time the number of princes allowed to participate in elections was considerably lessened. As Germany slowly became the centre of the empire, the electors were limited to Germans, and it became necessary to hold the title "King of Germany" before being crowned emperor. When King Louis III the Child died in 911, the Dukes of Bavaria, Franconia, Saxony, Swabia and Thuringia asserted their ancient right to elect Conrad of Franconia the new German king, thus beginning the notion of college of electors. Thuringia was annexed to the royal crown, and was only reinstated as a mere landgraviate in 1130, being replaced by the Duke of Lorraine. Originally, after the election of the Holy Roman Emperor, the Emperor-elect would gain the approval of the remaining nobles in the realm. The College of Electors is mentioned in the elections of 1125, 1152 and 1198. Pope Urban IV asserted in a letter in 1264, that by right of custom immemorial, seven princes held the right to elect the Emperor: the Archbishops of Cologne, Mainz and Trier, and the Dukes of Bavaria, Franconia, Saxony and Swabia. The three Archbishops ruled some of the richest sees in Europe, and the four Dukes held ancient hereditary offices. The Duchies of Franconia and Swabia had become extinct in 1196 and 1268, and had their rights inherited by the Margrave of Brandenburg and the Count Palatine of the Rhine respectively. However, as the House of Wittelsbach ruled both Bavaria and the Count Palatinate, the other electors refused to allow two Wittelsbachs to have electoral rights, beginning a long feud between Bavaria and the Palatinate in which the latter victored. Meanwhile, the King of Bohemia asserted his right as the Imperial Cupbearer to participate in elections in which the other electors challenged on the grounds his lands were not German. The Declaration at Rhense in 1338 ensured that the electors did not require Papal confirmation. The Golden Bull of 1356 finally resolved the feuds amongst the electors. In it, the Archbishops of Cologne, Mainz and Trier, the Duke of Saxony, the Count Palatinate, the Margrave of Brandenburg and the King of Bohemia were all conferred the right of electorship. The College of Electors did not change until 1621. Elector Palatine Frederick V had participated in the Bohemian Revolt of 1621 and was placed under the Imperial Ban. His vote on the Council of Electors was then granted the Duke of Bavaria, originally as a personalist vote but was later made hereditary. When the Thirty Years' War ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, a new electorate was created for the Palatine while the Duke of Bavaria retained his vote. In 1692 the Electorate of the Palatinate was inherited by a Catholic line, upsetting the religious balance of the College of Electors, so a new electorate was created in the Duke of Brunswick-Calenberg-Göttingen renamed to Hannover (this was confirmed by the Reichstag in 1708). During the War of Spanish Succession, both the electors of Cologne and Bavaria were placed under the Imperial Ban, although they regained thier seats with the Peace of Baden in 1714. In 1777 the number of electors decreased with the inheritence of the Palatinate by Bavaria. During the last years of the Holy Roman Empire, further changes occured to the College of Electors. The Archbishoprics of Cologne and Trier were annexed to France by the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801 and their votes lost. During the reorganisation of the Empire in 1803 the Dukes of Salzburg and Württemberg, the Margrave of Baden, and the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel gained a seat on the College of Electors. None of the new electors had the opportunity to vote in an election as the empire was abolished in 1806, and only the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel retained the right of electorship after 1806. Imperial States and Estates Imperial Circles The Reichstag Imperial Courts Chronological History of the Holy Roman Empire The Carolingian Empire (800 - 888) The Italian Emperors (888 - 924) The Early Holy Roman Empire (962 - 1137) The Empire Under the Hohenstaufens (1137 - 1252) The Interregnum and Imperial Reform (1252 - 1517) The Reformation and the Thirty Years' War (1517 - 1648) The Decline of the Holy Roman Empire (1648 - 1801) The End of the Empire (1801 - 1806) See Also: *List of Holy Roman Emperors *List of Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire *List of States in the Holy Roman Empire Category:Germany *Holy Roman Empire